Finger nail mask



June 28, 1966 F. E. TINSLEY 3,258,018

FINGER NAIL MASK Filed Jan. 13, 1964 FIG.|

FIG. 3

INVENTOR FREDERIC EDMUND TINSLEY ATTORNEYS United States Patent 3,258,018 FINGER NAIL MASK Frederic Edmund Tinsley, Folkestone, Kent, England, assignor to Mavala S.A., Geneva, Switzerland, a Swiss corporation Filed Jan. 13, 1964, Ser. No. 337,467 6 Claims. (Cl. 132-885) The present invention relates to a finger nail mask and, more particularly, to a mask which permits fluid to be applied to the tips of the finger nails while protecting the remainder of the finger nail and the finger.

Finger nail shields have been previously used, but for the most part these have been in the nature of a template for accurately applying finger nail polish to the major part of the finger nail. Other finger nail guards of various types are also known, such as those which protect finger nail polish. In addition, finger nail guards have also been used as a gauge for manicuring. So far, however, none of the finger nail guards or templates known in the prior art have been found to be useful to a satisfactory degree in the application of fluid to the tips of the finger nails.

Even though certain of the prior art devices maybe utilized to controllably apply fluid to the tips of the finger nails, these devices are not desirable due to their difficulty in use and also because of the corrosive nature of certain cosmetic materials which are desired to be applied to the tips of the finger nails. Thus, certain of these prior art finger nail guards are formed of paper backed with adhesive and these are stuck directly on to the finger nail; devices of this nature are difficult to apply to the finger nail and are furthermore messy. On the other hand, other guards are formed of metal or rubber and these materials are easily corroded by the cosmetic.

Certain other finger nail shields of the prior art which are adjustable for different sized nails are relatively complex and expensive mechanical devices utilizing interconnected and fabricated pieces, such as springs, hinges, etc. Such devices are cumbersome, expensive, and difficult to manipulate properly. In addition, those devices which adjust for different sized nails often do not fit properly for all the nails. In any device, those which are not adjustable have the disadvantages of being useful for only one size nail; for such devices, such as those of adhesive backed paper, it is necessary to use many different sized shields for different fingers.

It is therefore an object of the present invention to provide a finger nail guard which obviates the difficulties inherent in the devices of the prior art, such as indicated above.

It is another object of the present invention to provide a finger nail shield which is inexpensive to produce, yet simple and effective to use.

It is another object of the present invention to provide a finger nail guard which can be used on a great variety of sizes of fingers and finger nails.

It is another object of the present invention to provide a finger nail guard which accurately allows the tip of the finger nail to be treated with a liquid while the remainder of the finger and finger nail is protected from contacting such liquid.

It is another object of the present invention to provide a finger nail shield composed of a particular material which is inert to nail hardener compositions.

These and other objects and the nature and advantages of the invention will be apparent from the following description taken in conjunction with the accompanying drawing, wherein:

FIG. 1 is a perspective view showing a guard of the present invention in use;

' Patented June 28, 1966 FIG. 2 is a plan view of a finger nail guard in accordance with the present invention;

FIG. 3 is a section taken along line 3-3 of FIG. 2.

Referring to the' drawings, there is shown generally at 10 a finger nail guard in accordance with the present invention. This device essentially comprises a fiat planar disk 12 which is preferably, but not essentially, of circular shape. The disk 12 is preferably thin and flexible but is not deformable or stretchable in the sense that rubber is deformable. On the other hand, its thickness must be sufficiently great so as to maintain its dimension.

Along the planar surface of disk 12, preferably in the center thereof, a dimple 14 is provided. This dimple is generally in the shape of a hemisphere but, more accurately, is shaped to fit the end of the thumb or finger. Since the dimple 14 must accept a large number of sizes of fingers it is desirable that the diameter of the hemi-.

sphere, i.e. the distance across the dimple, be in the magnitude of /8 of an inch. The preferred dimensions are between /2 and A of an inch.

Extending across the dimple a slot 16 is provided through which a finger nail tip is intended to extend during use. The slot 16 is preferably curved, such as is shown in FIG. 2, so as to accommodate the natural curvature of the finger nail. When a finger nail is thrust through the slot 16 the top of the finger will correspond to the top of the finger nail shield 10 as it is disposed in FIGS. 2 and 3.

The present finger nail guard is used as shown in FIG. 1. The tip of a finger 18 is inserted into the depression of the dimple 14 and the finger nail 20 is passed through the curved slot 16 with the tip of the finger nail 20 projecting through the guard. The finger nail treating compound is applied such as by a brush 22. The treating fluid is preferably a finger nail hardening material which contains formaldehyde as an ingredient. This material, although safe to use on the finger nail, is corrosive to metals, rubber and certain other materials. Therefore, it is necessary to form the guard 10 of a mate rial which will not be attacked by the nail hardener. It has been found that a number of plastic materials will not be corroded by formaldehyde and the guard may be formed of polyester material, cellulose plastic and other known formaldehyde resistant materials.

It is also essential that the guard can be formed of a material which is flexible in a spring-like sense, but is not deformable or stretchable like rubber. The guard must maintain a relatively rigid state and may be deformed only by the action of other fingers grasping the peripheral edges of the disk 12 and bending them towards the hand. Such a deformation is often desirable when treating the nail of a finger tip which is larger than the dimple 14. In any case upon release of the peripheral edges of the disk 12, the guard should spring back to its original shape.

The guard of the present invention is very simply formed by merely stamping from large sheets of plastic. A single die can cut the disk 12 from a large sheet, form the dimple' 14 and cut the slot 16 in the dimple. To impart the necessary flexibility into the finger shield, if it is formed of plastic or paperboard, it is preferably of a thickness in the range of of an inch.

It will be obvious to those skilled in the art that various changes may be made without departing from the spirit of the invention and therefore the invention is not limited to what is shown in the drawings and described in the specification, but only as indicated in the appended claims.

What is claimed is:

1. A finger nail mask for permitting fluid to be applied to the tips of the finger nails while protecting the remainder of the nail and the finger comprising a spring-like thin planar disk, said disk having a dimple in its planar surface located substantially centrally of the disk, said dimple being generally in the shape of a hemisphere having a diameter in the magnitude of /2% of an inch, said disk being several times larger than the diameter of the dimple and a slot in said dimple extending therethrough from the inner generally hemispherical surface to the outer generally hemispherical surface and across the dimple, said finger nail tip being adapted to extend through said slot and said finger tip to contact said dimple with said disk extending outwardly near the end of said finger.

2. A finger nail mask as set forth in claim 1 wherein said slot is arcu-ate.

3. A finger nail mask as set forth in claim 1 wherein said disk is circular.

4. A finger nail mask as set forth in claim 2 wherein said disk is circular.

5. A finger nail mask as set forth in claim 1 wherein said disk is formed of a flexible plastic material.

6. A finger nail mask as set forth in claim 2 wherein said disk is formed of a flexible plastic material.

References Cited by the Examiner UNITED STATES PATENTS 2,123,343 7/1938 Rightsell 221 2,129,496 9/ 1938 Hollingsworth.

2,670,745 3/1954 Lui 13288.5

RICHARD A. GAUDET, Primary Examiner.

r RONALD L. FRINKS, Assistant Examiner. 

1. A FINGER NAIL FOR MASK FOR PERMITTING FLUID TO BE APPLIED TO THE TIPS OF THE FINGER NAILS WHEN PROTECTING THE REMAINDER OF THE NAIL AND THE FINGER COMPRISING A SPRING-LIKE THIN PLANAR DISK, SAID DISK HAVING A DIMPLE IN ITS PLANAR SURFACE LOCATED SUBSTANTIALLY CENTRALLY OF THE DISK, SAID DIMPLE BEING GENERALLY IN THE SHAPE OF A HEMISPHERE HAVING A DIAMETER IN THE MAGNITUDE OF 1/2-3/4 OF AN INCH, SAID DISK BEING SEVERAL TIMES LARGER THAN THE DIAMETER OF THE DIMPLE AND A SLOT IN SAID DIMPLE EXTENDING THERETHROUGH FROM THE INNER GENERALLY HEMISPHERICAL SURFACE TO THE OUTER GENERALLY HEMISPHERICAL SURFACE AND ACROSS THE DIMPLE, SAID FINGER NAIL TIP BEING ADAPTED TO EXTEND THROUGH SAID SLOT AND SAID FINGER TIP TO CONTACT SAID DIMPLE WITH SAID DISK EXTENDING OUTWARDLY NEAR THE END OF SAID FINGER. 